Community Engagement, Child Welfare, and Domestic Violence Service Agencies

Colleen MacPherson

Abstract

Although coordinated community responses to domestic violence are widely encouraged in the literature as a best practice approach, collaboration between multiple domestic violence response service agencies and government systems is often not achieved. Because of the fragmentation of domestic violence services, this literature review examines community engagement in general and the need for coordination between child welfare agencies and women serving anti-violence services in particular. The skills and strategies necessary for community engagement are explored along with the historical relationship between the two service streams. Also included is a review of the barriers to collaboration between child welfare and women serving agencies along with recommendations to overcome these hurdles. By way of summation, a discussion is provided on how information learned through this review process may be applied to practice for Child and Youth Care Practitioners and others who take up the difficult task of responding to the complex needs of families experiencing domestic violence.